Hold On
by jibber59
Summary: Once again, Ezra finds himself in an explosive situation. Will the others be able to get to him in time? (ATF - rating for some adult language)
1. Chapter 1

"Well, to quote any number of people from my past, here's another fine mess Standish."

Ezra remained perfectly still in his seat. Not that he had a lot of choice. The ropes holding him in place were tight, but if he had truly been inclined, he probably could have worked himself free. It wouldn't have been his first escape from similar circumstances, but until he knew a little more about the present situation, he was didn't want to risk it being the last.

The best he could figure, he'd been here for 30 minutes. Or rather, he'd been here conscious for that long. No idea how much time had passed before that. He had spent most of the time he'd been awake replaying the last evening's events in his head. At least, he assumed it was last evening. Could still have been this evening, or a week ago for all he knew. Whatever – whenever - It didn't take long. There had been nothing out of the ordinary at all until he got into his car to drive home from the restaurant. He'd had no sense he was being watched. Not the slightest inkling that anything was amiss until the cloth was pressed over his face. It took only seconds for him to pass out.

He awoke, tied to a wooden, and incredibly uncomfortable, chair. The room was dimly lit, so he wasn't able to ascertain too much about his surroundings. The moment he moved his hand he heard a click, followed a few seconds later by a voice.

"Welcome back Mr. Standish. You will have 10 seconds from the beep to fully focus your attention, at which time you will feel a tug on your hands. I would strongly advise against moving after that, as the pin will have been removed from the grenade. Trying to move will just remove the pin faster." Beep

The fog lifted immediately, but there really were no choices to be made. Even if he could move away, it wouldn't be far enough or fast enough if they really were explosives. He felt the tug and froze in place. A few seconds later, the voice continued.

"Excellent. I see you are much better at following orders in your file would suggest. I am sure you are dying, so to speak, from curiosity, so let me provide you with a few answers. You are presently in the basement of your very own ATF offices. Don't feel bad if it doesn't seem familiar to you. I doubt a man of your skills and background has had any reason to be in the utility section of the building.

Who I am is really of no consequence to you. Neither are my motivations. All that you need to know at this point is that Mr. Larrabee and Judge Travis have both been notified of your current predicament." _Damn_.

"Which is as follows. You are tied to a chair which has been wired to explode should you try to move. The door to the room has likewise been prepared to discourage intruders. I can remotely neutralize the charges once my demands have been met. I can also remotely detonate them. There is sufficient explosive material placed around the area to, through a chain reaction effect, take down the entire building. And then, just to keep your attention riveted, there is the grenade."

Ezra didn't think it was possible to become anymore locked in place than he had been, but that sentence managed to do it. Foolish escape efforts resulting in his own death, while far from the desired outcome, were one thing. No way in hell was he going to be responsible for any other loss of life.

"Best of luck Mr. Standish. You will need it." The voice disappeared, and Ezra sat in quiet contemplation of just how the hell he was going to figure this one out.

7-7-7-7-7-7-7

Chris stared at Judge Travis in total disbelief. "Well, I know you can't just hand the guns over, but we have to do something."

Travis sighed. "I'm open to suggestions. I've already contacted the director, and I'm looking at options to go over his head, but all that's going to do is get me fired for insubordination. You might want to rein in that anger before the same thing happens to you."

"Fired hell! I'll walk out of here if we can't figure this out."

"Larabee – Chris." Travis softened his tone. "You know the policy. We don't negotiate with terrorists, and that's what these guys are. They may label themselves as patriotic survivalists, but they are nothing more than bat-shit crazy domestic terrorists."

"And we're just gonna sit back and let them kill Ezra?"

"No, not if we can prevent it. So how do we do that?"

Chris stared again, seething at the reality of the situation and the fact he had no answer. Stalling, he reached for his phone.

"I wouldn't do that Chris." Nathan spoke quietly but urgently from the back of the room. Chris glared his question.

"This guy said he can remotely detonate the bomb. A cell signal could be the trigger."

"Everybody in the damn building has a cell phone." Chris was pissed to hear a hint of panic in his voice.

"JD's setting up a jammer. Probably already up, and that may block the signal from getting to Ezra as well."

"But it will set anything off?"

"No Chris," JD entered the room. "It's in place and it won't cause a problem. Of course, this jackass may think were trying something, but I'm guessing he figured we'd take this step. If it was going to blow, it would have already." He cringed, realizing that wasn't as comforting as he'd intended it to be. He looked to Buck for a bit of support and got it.

"Vin and Josiah should be down in the basement by now. They'll talk to Ezra and one of them will come back up. We're going to figure this out Chris."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because we have to."

7-7-7-7-7-7-7

Ezra could hear the footsteps and his name being called. A sense of dread flooded him.

"No! Josiah no. Stay back. Go away!"

"Easy son. Steady. We know what's going on."

"Don't touch anything. The door's wired."

"We know Ezra. Calm down. You have to stay still, understand?"

Vin was here too? What in God's name were they thinking. "Please, you have to leave. This could all go wrong at any moment. Please." Ezra couldn't hide his anxiety.

"Ezra. Stop. Breathe slowly. We came down to let you know we're gonna fix this is all. You just have to do your part and stay calm." Vin's tone remained level, but he was glad Ezra couldn't see their faces. He was sure his looked every bit as terrified as did Josiah's.

"I will be much calmer when I know everyone is out of harms way."

"We're working on that. The building is being evacuated as we speak. The whole block is. Gas lines have been shut off too. We've got everything taken care of Ezra."

"Not everything. Why are you still here? You need to leave."

"Not without you son."

Ezra forced himself to calm down, or at the very least sound as if he had. They wouldn't leave if he thought he wasn't fully in control. He could handle that. He could bluff anyone. "Gentlemen, I assure you –" _deep calming breath Ezra_ – "I have my end of this situation well in hand." He could feel the onset of a mildly hysterical laugh at the bad pun and struggled to smother it. "There is no need for you to be here. Please, I will be able to focus much better on what I need to do if I do not have to concern myself with your well-being."

"We'll be just fine Ezra." Vin responded. "And so will you. So, it doesn't much matter where we are, does it?"

"If it doesn't matter, then I would before prefer it be elsewhere." He could hear the anxiety slipping back in his voice.

Vin and Josiah could hear it too and looked to each other for guidance each shrugging in response. "He's right about this adding to his stress." Josiah admitted quietly. "And we might be more useful upstairs."

"Hate like hell to leave him alone."

"Okay Ezra," Josiah raised his voice again. "I'm going to go up.

"Both of you."

"Ezra, calm down. We'll leave for now, but we'll going to be back real soon to get you out of there. You understand me?"

Ezra sighed with relief. He could feel a small amount of the tension leave, until it occurred to him what his teammates were likely doing. "Not just away from here. Out of the building Josiah. Vin? Listen to me, there is enough explosive here to take down this entire structure. Quite possibly the block."

"Ezra, can you see the explosives? It might help to know what we're dealing with."

"The lighting in here leaves much to be desired. There are several boxes against the walls, none of which appear to be labelled. The door appears to be sealed with what I can only assume is plastique."

"Okay Ezra, that's good." Vin winced as he heard what he'd said. "Not the explosives part, the knowing about them. We're going to do what you ask, but like Josiah said, we're coming back for you."

"I shall endeavor to be waiting for you to return, when it is safe." He could hear their footsteps retreating and was left feeling terribly alone, and far more frightened than he would ever admit.

7-7-7-7-7-7-7

"How's he doing?" The look on Vin's face was making Chris even more nervous about his undercover agent, and their silence didn't help. "Vin? How is he?"

Josiah answered instead. "Terrified – and trying hard not to show it. I don't think he figures on making it out of this one Chris."

"Shit! I should go talk to him." It was a question as much as a statement.

"Not unless you have news for him. He doesn't want us down there and getting him even more agitated isn't the best idea right now."

Vin finally spoke, but it wasn't to Chris. "JD, why did it work when you blocked the cell signal?"

The young agent was confused. "You really want the technical crap now?"

"No. What I mean is, why didn't that set off the explosion? And why didn't this bastard have a backup in case we did just that?"

"Because he's an idiot?" JD offered.

"No, that's the last thing he is. He grabbed Ezra, smuggled him in here past security, got explosives in here. The guy is not an idiot."

"What are you thinking Vin?" Chris was getting an idea where this was going.

"He knows the building."

"Most any visitor would be able to get an idea of the layout." Buck countered.

"Yeah, an idea. But not the basement. Hell, we didn't know our way around down there without the blueprint. And what about security?"

JD nodded, following Vin's logic. "No sign of a breach, or even an attempted one."

Chris was definitely seeing where this was going and was hating the idea. "Someone on the inside. You think it agent did this to Ezra?"

"An agent, or maybe one of the civilian staff, although that seems less likely."

"So, was he part of this survivalist crew, or just piggybacking on their reputation for being crazy?" Buck wondered.

"Don't know, and don't know that it matters. JD, run any kind of security scan you can think of. Who access the basement level in the past month? Who's asked for additional security clearance? Nathan, review whatever footage we have from whatever cameras are in the area."

"Already looked at all that."

"Yeah, for intruders. Now were looking for one of us." He spoke urgently but quietly. "And for God's sake, keep that under your hat. We can't risk tipping him off."

Vin grabbed at JD's arm when the young man turned to leave. "You didn't answer the first part. Why didn't your jamming voodoo set things off?"

JD stopped, uncertain of the answer. Then the light went on for him. "He doesn't want to blow anything up! The son of a bitch is probably still in here!"

"And he wants everybody else out." Buck added. "But why?"

"Access to something he can't get otherwise. Think about it. Not only is the building being evacuated, but that means most of the security protocols are down. Doors are all unlocked to make sure nobody gets trapped."

"JD – are the cameras operating?" On getting a nod, Chris continued. "Run them. Run everything we've got and that see who else is still in here."

Josiah looked over to Vin. "Did Ezra say the door was sealed with plastique?" Vin nodded, cringing slightly at the image that came to mind. "Then how did he get out?" Everyone turned to look at him. "You can't seal a door from the inside, then leave. Makes no sense."

"Well, maybe he put it around, then pulled it closed?" Nathan speculated.

"It is pretty dark in there from what Ezra said. Maybe it just looks sealed." Vin added.

"The phone message said he was sealed in there. Pretty specific phrase."

"What are you getting at Josiah? How does any of that help Ezra?"

"Simple Buck – if he didn't leave by that door…"

"He left by another." Buck finished. "Damn, of course. Where are the blueprints?" Vin reached over to a neighbouring desk and grabbed for them.

"Okay, Ezra's here, right?" He asked, pointing to the small room. "So, what's around him?"

"Utility rooms for the water, electrical, things like that."

"And this?" Nathan pointed to a narrow space that ran behind the room Ezra was in.

"Beats me. Looks like –" Josiah smiled – "looks a lot like an emergency access point. Backup way to get in all the utilities."

"Any way to find out if the door's rigged?" He asked JD, who was already on the move.

"Remote cameras. Should be able to slide one under the door. If anything is blocking the door then it won't go through. But if it does, we can have a button camera on the end and see what's going on."

Ten minutes later the team was following up on every hint of an idea as to who might be behind all of this insanity. Chris and JD had made their way to the basement, and following Vin's advice, were making enough noise to let Ezra know well in advance they were coming.

"Dear God Vin. I told you not to come back."

"Not Vin, Ezra."

Oh God. This was, if possible, even worse.

"Before you get yourself in a state Ezra, hear me out."

"I am not in a state Chris, I am in Hell."

"And we're going to get you out." JD tried to sound optimistic.

"You brought JD with you? Why? Why would you do such a thing?"

Chris was less than thrilled with what he was hearing. Even under the most adverse situations he could remember, Ezra was able to keep his cool. Now, he was bordering on a panic attack, and if they couldn't get him settled things could get ugly fast.

He didn't like sounding angry, but it might be what was needed to keep Ezra focused. "Listen to me Standish. We've got this figured out so shut up and pay attention." His glare silenced JD's planned comment. "We just need to confirm a couple of details, and then you'll be home free."

Ezra took a calming breath. "You lie terribly. You might want to abandon any thoughts you have concerning taking over my position as undercover operative."

So much for conning him. "Nobody's taking over your job Ezra. And we do have this figured out. We think." Chris added reluctantly. "Are you facing this door?"

"Yes." he answered, curiosity piqued despite his better judgment.

"Damn. So, you have no idea what's behind you?"

There were a few seconds of silence and a muffled curse. "No. I tried to turn but it pulls on the ropes too much. I cannot hold my grip on whatever it is I am holding onto when that happens."

"Then for God's sake, sit still. Do you know what you're holding?"

Again, there was a brief silence. "I believe it is an armed grenade."

"Shit." JD mumbled.

"Ezra, you've been holding that this whole time?"

"Well, I didn't just pick it up a minute ago out of idle curiosity."

"Right. Sorry. Stupid question."

If he'd been holding that for at least the three hours since they knew this had started, his hands and arms would be killing him. Especially given that his arms were tied behind him. Chris had no idea how much longer Ezra could keep that up.

"I can hold onto it for as long as I have to. No one else is going to die because my hand gets tired."

Damn his mind reading skills. "Betting it's more than tired. If we've got this figured out right, it won't be much longer Ezra."

"Is the building clear? Has everyone been evacuated?"

"Almost everyone." JD answered as he worked at his setup.

"What's the delay?"

"Well, you are."

Ezra groaned. "No, you must leave. If I am the only one remaining, then it doesn't matter."

Chris growled. He couldn't help himself. "What the fuck you mean it doesn't matter. Everyone is getting out of this building Standish. That includes you!"

"Please Chris. Order them out. Carry them out. You have to get the others to safety."

"We're all getting –"

"Please!" Ezra was pleading in a way he never had done before. "I have enough reasons to burn in Hell, don't make me have six more deaths on my conscience. Don't let me die knowing I killed you all."

Chris's heart ached at the anguished plea, and JD was having trouble focusing on his work through his blurred vision.

"Listen Ezra. Listen to me. We are certain there are no other explosives in that room." Okay almost certain, but that news wouldn't help Ezra now. "You understand me? The building will not blow up."

"Just this space then?" Ezra said quietly. Far too quietly.

"Shit Chris, I don't think you should've told him that."

"Ezra. Damn you. Don't even think about letting go, you hear me? JD and I are right outside this door."

"You will be shielded. The grenade won't have that much force."

 _It'll have enough to kill you_ , Chris thought in a panic. "Yeah, not if we're inside." He reached for the knob, pushing JD away from the door and praying they'd reached the right conclusion.

M7-M7-M7-M7-M7-M7-M7

 ** _tbc_**


	2. Chapter 2

Light flooded in, blinding Ezra for a moment. Fighting every natural instinct to jump, he instead froze in place. The only movement was to tighten the grip on the grenade he was holding, sending spasms of pain through his arms.

"Dear God Chris. Just once, could you not have done what I asked?" He was close to sobbing now, with no idea how much longer he was going to be able to hold himself together. He was sure the time could be counted in seconds at this point.

Chris was frozen in place. The sense of relief that ran through him as he realized they were all still in one piece was tempered by the spectacle in front of him. It wasn't just the strain that was evident on Ezra's face, not to mention in the tension of his entire body. Streaks of sweat ran down his face leaving tracks in the dust that had settled on him. He'd never seen Ezra looking so vulnerable and was at a loss how to comfort him now.

He didn't dare take another step. "Ezra, stay perfectly still.

"That is my intention."

"JD get over to the door and tell me if these mean anything."

Ezra had beams of laser lights passing in front of him, some crossed the floor near him and others were aimed at his head and chest. Just to make things more confusing, several small wires were interwoven around him looking like a metallic spider's web.

"Hey Ez. You need to stay as still as you can. Okay?" JD spoke in a voice far calmer than he would've expected. "How come you never mentioned all of this to Vin?" He was trying to follow the source of each light, but the patterns were confusing as they seemed to bend and bounce.

"The wires were invisible in the poor lighting, and these – I assume lasers – are a new addition to the game." Chris could hear the defeat and knew even as Ezra began to open his mouth what he would say next.

"Save it! We are not leaving. Well I'm not. JD is, so that he can figure out what the hell all this is."

"Don't need to Chris."

"Please do as he asks JD."

"No, you don't understand. These lasers are just more BS. For one thing there's way too many. It's all to confuse things. Look on the wall. There are small mirrors stuck there, bouncing the light around. Second, and more important, they couldn't just come on and still been connected to anything. None of them look like anything more than flashlight beams. Oh," he added, looking at the door frame, "this plastique is more like plasticine."

Chris looked cautiously around, still not wanting to risk making any move that might have unintended and decidedly unpleasant consequences. "What about the wires?"

"That I can't say for sure without a better look. If I had to guess, I'd say they lead back to Ezra though. For the moment, I don't think we should touch them."

"Chris." Ezra's voice was sounding beyond fatigued by this point. "Please."

"Give it up Ezra. We're getting you out of this."

"It's not worth the risk. I'm not with the risk."

"Would you leave if this situation was reversed?"

"In a heartbeat."

"Liar."

Ezra had neither the physical or emotional strength left to raise his head to challenge them.

"JD, get back upstairs and find out who did this. He's probably still in the building. Don't let him out." JD nodded, hesitating for the briefest moment.

"You hang in there Ezra. Don't forget, I still owe you from last week's poker game and you promised I'd have the chance to win it back. I likely won't be able to, but I want that chance." He was gone before Ezra could answer him.

"Okay, here's what we're doing. First I'm going to work my way around behind you and see how wrapped up all those wires are."

"I suppose it would be futile for me to point out again the imprudence of your actions."

"What do you think?" Chris said nothing more as he moved to the left wall, then carefully edged around. He forced himself to keep his face neutral, Ezra wasn't looking at him, but knowing the man as he did, he figured that was likely to change at the worst possible moment. He aimed his flashlight at Ezra's hands, letting out an enormous sigh. "Okay Ezra. You're going to be fine. Those wires aren't connected to anything. All we have to do is get that damn thing out of your hands and over to the bomb disposal team."

"That may not be as simple as it sounds. I do not believe I can release my grip. That, you will have to admit, is the definition of irony."

Chris could hear the hysteria creeping into Ezra's voice. _Not now_ he thought, _don't lose it now Ezra_.

"Chris? He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of Vin's voice, and reached out reflexively to cover Ezra's hands. The resulting cry of pain almost had him letting go.

"Dammit Vin, are you trying to get us all killed?" Vin stopped his run forward, terrified a move could be fatal.

Chris shook his head as he struggled to get himself calm. "It's all smoke and mirrors, but we still have to deal with this grenade. Get over here."

"No." Ezra countered. "No one else."

"Steady Ezra. I've got this, I'm holding the firing mechanism. You understand. You can let it go."

"I can't. It will fall."

"No, it won't Ezra. I promise."

"I can't move Chris. I'm sorry."

"Ezra come on. Just a couple more minutes. Vin, he's cramped up. Rub his arms, his hands. Gentle, just try to relax him a bit."

"Well, I don't doubt it rather have someone much prettier doin' this – right Ezra? Maybe we could get Inez to help us out? That'd bring a smile to you." Vin's words weren't getting through to him, as Ezra continued to hold his life, and that of his friends, quite literally in his hands.

"It's not working Chris."

"Yeah, it is. His grip is loosening a bit. Another minute or so and I should be able to get this off him."

"Well, before you handed over to the bomb squad, make sure whoever you're giving it to is the real deal." Chris looked at him, not understanding. "Five bomb techs were sent to help with this."

"So?"

"There are six guys in the building."

"Son of a bitch! No Ezra, relax. It's okay." Chris lowered his voice again. "Who is it?"

"Don't know. That's the thing about those bomb suits, it could be anyone inside one." He turned his attention back to a rapidly fading Ezra, feeling the man starting to go slack.

"Okay Ezra, it's good. Chris's almost got it." Ezra's hands loosened that little bit more and Chris gently pulled the grenade away. He looked at it, anger colouring his features.

"I'll kill him myself! God damn bastard. I'm gonna find a real one of these and shove it so far up his ass…"

"Real one? That's a fake? Are you sure?"

Chris turned it so Vin could clearly see the toy label that had been hidden by Ezra's grip.

"I'll hold him down while you shove it up." Vin snarled. The anger dissipated as Ezra slumped forward, held upright only by the ropes still binding him.

"Go Chris. I got him."

"I don't want to bring the medics yet. It'll tip our hand. Think he's okay?"

"No, but I think we can hold off for a bit. But send Nathan down soon as you can."

Nathan arrived about five minutes later with Josiah just a few steps behind. Neither man spoke as they went straight to Ezra's side. "He hasn't move much. I think he's just exhausted." Vin kept his voice quiet for fear of startling Ezra into movements that were bound to be painful.

"Don't doubt it. JD found the deleted security footage. He's been tied up down here since just after ten last night."

"14 hours! Good God, no wonder." He swallowed hard. "Can we move him? Should we?"

"Yeah, slow and easy. I want to get him out of here and somewhere warmer. JD set something up in the break room. Chris still isn't ready to let anyone know he's safe." Nathan had been working at Ezra's ropes as he spoke and the minute they were released he slumped forward. An instant later he bolted upright trying to clench his hands and screaming "No!"

"It's over Ezra, it's over. Relax. We got this. It's over." The exhausted man gave Vin a confused look before passing out on his shoulder.

Josiah gently swooped him up, cradling him in a way Ezra never would have tolerated had he been awake. There were moans and soft whimpers as his muscles trembled at the movement, but he never completely came to.

A little more than an hour later he remained curled up on an air mattress JD had located, covered by emergency heating blankets set to try to soothe his cramped body. Josiah had stayed at his side as they waited for word from Chris.

"No." Nathan cautioned him. "Don't rub his hands, just knead them, not deeply. Think of it as massaging a baby, you barely want him to know you're there."

"I do not see how I can help but be aware of your presence."

"Hey Ezra. Good to hear from you."

"Likewise, Nathan. Dare I presume from my prone position and the looks on your faces that this incident has met a satisfactory conclusion?"

"Even after all this, you couldn't just ask if everything is okay?" Buck was grinning widely as he entered the room, thrilled beyond belief to hear Ezra's voice.

"I would hate to disappoint my fans."

"You have fans Ezra? Who would have guessed?" JD's grin matched Buck's.

"So," Ezra spoke again, the fatigue and stress still evident in his voice. "Is everything alright?" He looked up as Chris and Vin joined them.

"Yeah, pretty much." Chris commented. "Still a few little details to work on, but they'll keep for now."

"But you have apprehended the perpetrator?"

"Damn straight."

"Tell me, were you able to locate a real grenade and perform the anatomically challenging feat you suggested?"

"Heard that, did you? No. Had to settle for a fairly simple arrest. Bastard didn't even make it interesting."

"So, no chance to shoot him?" Nathan asked. Buck shook his head not hiding his regret, but Chris did manage a slight grin.

"No shooting, but I bet those handcuffs are going to be a little tight around his wrists. And I forgot to send a key with anyone, so he may be locked up for a bit."

Ezra moved to push himself into a seated position, brushing off Nathan's effort to force him back down. "Please, I need to move. I need to know I can." Nathan nodded his understanding but watched closely for any problems. "And just who was our sinister plotter?"

"You're not gonna believe this." JD was far too excited. "A janitor."

Ezra joined the others in staring in disbelief. "We were outsmarted by a janitor?"

Vin looked stunned. "You're right JD. I don't believe it."

"Yeah," Chris nodded. "Although I'm betting when we get more background on this guy there be a lot more to him than that."

"He say anything about why, what he was after?" Josiah asked.

"Not saying much of anything. Didn't deny any of it, but no details. Oh, and he wanted to be sure we understood no one was in any danger."

"Sure, unless you count the coronaries we all damn near had." Josiah added. It only took a quick look at Ezra to know that the idea that no one was hurt in this was pure bullshit.

Ezra speculated on the motive with certainty. "Greed is an extremely effective motivator. It will make folks take enormous risks, sell out all they believe in and abandon all moral fibre. I can think of nothing that can have such a powerful hold on someone."

"You can't? What about friendship? Because I just saw someone willing to let himself be blown to bits in order to make sure that his friends were safe. I'd say that was a pretty powerful force too."

Ezra wasn't quite sure how to answer Chris on that, and his effort to shrug it off resulted in another muscle spasm sending shivers of pain through him. Josiah noticed them and snugged the blanket more securely around his shoulders.

Chris decided to let it go for the moment and continued the story. "We got him near the evidence lockers, so yeah, it's a safe bet he was looking for weapons or money – or both."

"Or evidence in a case." JD offered.

"Could be, but I'm betting his interest was purely mercenary."

"Why me?" Ezra asked softly. "Did he give any indication of why he elected to favour me with his attention in this escapade?"

"All he said was he needed a way to empty the building and keep everybody, especially our team distracted. Guess he figured putting one of us in the middle of this crap would keep us occupied. Said it wasn't personal." Chris didn't see how that would help Ezra, but figured he should know.

"But why me? I don't mean that to sound as pitiful as it does. It simply seems to me that any of you gentlemen would've inspired a far greater protective instinct, and likely focused the concern of the entire agency on your fate."

"That your roundabout way of saying nobody cares about what happens to you? Because if it is, we're going to be having a long, long talk about things."

"No Josiah, as much is part of me continues to believe that, I am convinced on a regular basis that is not entirely true. As for the long talk, I believe Chris has already reserved that privilege."

"No Ezra, you aren't getting any lectures for me. From any of us. Because it'd be damned hypocritical of us to yell at you for saying and doing exactly what we have been if we'd been in your place. And you'd have been stupid enough to do exactly what we did in return."

"None of you would have been so weak. So panicked. You would have handled the matter with more reserve."

Buck snarled angrily. "You held onto that grenade for over 14 hours and stayed cool enough to be able to tell us what was in the room and everything you could figure about what had happened. Don't you dare dump any of that 'weak' shit on yourself."

Vin added his comments to the mini lecture. "And, if you think nobody else cares about you around here, then nobody told you about the crowd of folks waiting outside for word on whether or not you're okay."

Ezra arched an eyebrow in surprise, but decided he was far too tired to get into a further discussion on the matter.

JD had been thinking about Ezra's question. "Well, if it was me, I'd have picked you to kidnap too."

"Really? I had no idea you held any such animus toward me."

"No, I don't mean it that way. Think about it. This guy was basically running a con on us. Now if I was stupid enough to do that, I'd at least make damn sure that the smartest con man I knew was out of the picture. Admit it Ezra. You know you'd have seen through all that in a minute."

"You give me far too much credit JD." Ezra tried to hide a yawn with limited success. He couldn't believe he was actually tired.

Nathan swooped in again. "You need to rest Ezra."

"Why should I? I have done nothing all day."

"Yeah, because that 'nothing' wasn't at all stressful or exhausting. Just like a day at the beach."

"I will concede I am feeling somewhat drained by the events." Once more they all marvelled at Ezra's gift for understatement. "Perhaps a nap would be in order?" He looked up at Chris, who offered him a hand up.

"I'm thinking more like about 24 hours of uninterrupted sleep is ahead for you. You want to do it out at the ranch?"

"If it is all the same to you, and with appropriate gratitude for your consideration, I would prefer the comfort of my own bed."

"Figured as much. Okay, which of us stays with you? Don't waste your breath Ezra." Chris cut off the inevitable objection. "You may not think so, but you're gonna want the company."

"I don't require anyone to hold my hand."

"No, but you might want someone to pour you a drink at some point." Chris replied, trying to keep his tone casual. He had no doubts there would be a few nightmares in Ezra's future.

"Besides, you're going to be pretty stiff for the next day or two. Probably need help just getting out of bed." Nathan agreed. "Do yourself a favour Ezra. Don't argue with me on this one, just let us help."

"Very well." he surrendered, reviewing his options with a smile. "Well, since I am supposed to rest, and JD and Buck would take full advantage of my entertainment centre for sports and movies, I would have to eliminate them. Nathan would be far too bothersome with his hourly checks on the state of my health. Chris has several hours of paperwork ahead as a result of today's adventure, and Josiah simply would never be able to get comfortable sleeping on the couch. By default, Vin loses the draw and will have to take the role of Guardian for the next 24 hours."

"Hot damn. Day off with pay!" Vin gloated mildly.

"You can take reports and a laptop with you." Chris corrected, turning to hide his own smile.

"You just have no compassion or consideration for the mental health and welfare of your men." Vin tried to sound dejected with no success.

Chris watched Ezra limp stiffly from the room, slowly trying to flex his tight muscles.

"Nope." He muttered almost to himself. "Don't care about them at all."

Buck patted him lightly on the shoulder. "Nice try cowboy."

M7-M7-M7-M7-M7-M7-M7

The End


End file.
